Slow process in confined polymer melts: layer exchange dynamics at a polymer solid interface

Nanoscopically Confined 1,4-Polybutadiene Melts: Exploring Confinement by Alumina Nanorod and Nanopore Systems

We present molecular dynamics simulations of a chemically realistic model of 1,4-polybutadiene (PBD) in contact with curved alumina surfaces. We contrast the behavior of PBD infiltrated into alumina pores with a curvature radius of about three times the radius of gyration of the chains to its behavior next to a melt dispersed alumina rod of equal absolute curvature. These confinement types represent situations occurring in polymer melts loaded with nanoparticles due to nanoparticle aggregation. While there are observable differences in structure and dynamics due to the different types of geometric confinement, the main effects stem from the strong attraction of PBD to the alumina surfaces. This strong attraction leads to a deformation of the chains in contact to the surfaces. We focus on temperatures well above the bulk glass transition temperature, but even at these high temperatures, the layers next to the alumina surfaces show glass-like relaxation behavior. We analyze the signature of this glassy behavior for neutron scattering or nuclear magnetic resonances experiments.

Relaxation dynamics of a liquid in the vicinity of an attractive surface: The process of escaping from the surface

We analyze the displacements of the particles of a glass-forming molecular liquid perpendicular to a confining solid surface using extensive molecular dynamics simulations with atomistic models. In the vicinity of an attractive surface, the liquid molecules are trapped. Transient localization of liquid molecules near the surface introduces a relaxation process related to the escape of molecules from the surface into the dynamics of the interfacial liquid layer. To describe this process, we analyze several dynamical observables of the confined liquid. The self-intermediate scattering function and the mean-squared displacement of the particles located in the interfacial layer are dominated by the process of escaping from the surface. This relaxation process is also associated with a strong heterogeneity in the mobility of the interfacial particles. The studied model liquid is hydrogenated methyl methacrylate. For the confining wall, we consider different models, namely a periodic single layer of graphene and a frozen amorphous configuration of the bulk liquid (frozen wall). Near graphene, where the liquid molecules form a layered structure and adopt parallel-to-surface orientation, a clear separation between small-scale movements of the molecules near the surface and the process of escaping from the surface is observed. This is reflected in the three-step relaxation of the interfacial layer. However, near the frozen wall, where the liquid molecules do not have a preferential alignment, a clear three-step relaxation is not seen, even though the dynamical quantities are controlled by the process of escaping from the surface.

Structure and dynamics of a 1,4-polybutadiene melt in an alumina nanopore: A molecular dynamics simulation

We present results of Molecular Dynamics simulations of a chemically realistic model of 1,4-polybutadiene (PBD)confined in a cylindrical alumina nanopore of diameter 10 nm. The simulations are done at three different temperaturesabove the glass transition temperature T g . We investigate the density layering across the nanopore as well as theorientational ordering in the polymer melt, brought about by the confinement, on both the segmental and chain scales.For the chain scale ordering, the magnitude and orientation of the axes of the gyration tensor ellipsoid of single chainsare studied and are found to prefer to align parallel to the pore axis. Even though double bonds near the wall arepreferentially oriented along the pore walls, studying the nematic order parameter indicates that there is no nematicordering at the melt-wall interface. As for the dynamics in the melt, we focus here on the mean-square-displacement ofthe monomers for several layers across the nanopore as well as the movement of the chain center of mass which bothdisplay a slowing down of the dynamics in the layer at the wall. We also show the strong adsorption of the monomersto the pore wall at lower temperatures.

Effect of Nanoparticles Surface Bonding and Aspect Ratio on Mechanical Properties of Highly Cross-Linked Epoxy Nanocomposites: Mesoscopic Simulations

The paper aims to study the mechanical properties of epoxy resin filled with clay nanoparticles (NPs), depending on their shapes and content on the surface of a modifying agent capable of forming covalent bonds with a polymer. The cylindrical clay nanoparticles with equal volume and different aspects ratios (disks, barrel, and stick) are addressed. The NPs' bonding ratio with the polymer (RGC) is determined by the fraction of reactive groups and conversion time and varies from RGC = 0 (non-bonded nanoparticles) to RGC = 0.65 (more than half of the surface groups are linked with the polymer matrix). The performed simulations show the so-called load-bearing chains (LBCs) of chemically cross-linked monomers and modified nanoparticles to determine the mechanical properties of the simulated composites. The introduction of nanoparticles leads to the breaking of such chains, and the chemical cross-linking of NPs with the polymer matrix restores the LBCs and strengthens the composite. At small values of RGC, the largest value of the elastic modulus is found for systems filled with nanoparticles having the smallest surface area, and at high values of RGC, on the contrary, the systems containing disk-shaped particles with the largest surface area have a larger elastic modulus than the others. All calculations are performed within the framework of a mesoscopic model based on accurate mapping of the atomistic structures of the polymer matrix and nanoparticles into coarse-grained representations, which, if necessary, allow reverse data mapping and quantitative assessment of the state of the filled epoxy resin. On the other hand, the obtained data can be used to design the functional materials with specified mechanical properties based on other practically significant polymer matrices and nanofillers.

Molecular and micro-scale heterogeneities in Raman modes of a relaxing polymer glass

We have used Raman spectroscopy to study relaxation dynamics at two different length scales, molecular level and micro-scale in order to probe the presence of cooperative rearranging regions in a polymer glass. Response to slow thermal cycles and fast quench through the glass transition temperature (T_g) is analyzed for film and unprocessed forms of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc). In PVAc film, enhanced disorder and molecular mobility lead to peak broadening by about a factor of 10 compared to unprocessed PVAc. Thermal cycles (10 K min^-1) produce hysteresis in integrated Raman peak intensity (loop areaAINTI).AINTIvalues of film are two orders of magnitude more than unprocessed, indicating more configurational mosaics with higher interfacial energy dissipations. Ageing after 60 K min^-1quench manifests as heterogeneous molecular dynamics of film Raman modes with significant peak-width variations, differentiating high mobility and low mobility modes. Two-dimensional mapping of film Raman modes after quench reveal micro-scale clusters of average size ≈250 molecules having fractal boundaries with fractal dimensiond_f= 1.5, resemblingd_fof percolation clusters below percolation threshold. During thermal cycling and relaxation after a quench, cooperative segmental dynamics with large correlations between skeletal C-C stretch and side branch modes is observed. The observations are analyzed in the context of the random first order transition theory of glasses, which attributes heterogeneous relaxations in glasses to the presence of clusters of variable configurational states.

Gradient of Segmental Dynamics in Stereoregular Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Melts Confined between Pristine or Oxidized Graphene Sheets

Segmental dynamics in unentangled isotactic, syndiotactic, and atactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (i-, a-, and s-PMMA) melts confined between pristine graphene, reduced graphene oxide, RGO, or graphene oxide, GO, sheets is studied at various temperatures, well above glass transition temperature, via atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. The model RGO and GO sheets have different degrees of oxidization. The segmental dynamics is studied through the analysis of backbone torsional motions. In the vicinity of the model nanosheets (distances less than ≈2 nm), the dynamics slows down; the effect becomes significantly stronger with increasing the concentration of the surface functional groups, and hence increasing polymer/surface specific interactions. Upon decreasing temperature, the ratios of the interfacial segmental relaxation times to the respective bulk relaxation times increase, revealing the stronger temperature dependence of the interfacial segmental dynamics relative to the bulk dynamics. This heterogeneity in temperature dependence leads to the shortcoming of the time-temperature superposition principle for describing the segmental dynamics of the model confined melts. The alteration of the segmental dynamics at different distances, d, from the surfaces is described by a temperature shift, ΔTseg(d) (roughly speaking, shift of a characteristic temperature). Next, to a given nanosheet, i-PMMA has a larger value of ΔTseg than a-PMMA and s-PMMA. This trend correlates with the better interfacial packing and longer trains of i-PMMA chains. The backbone torsional autocorrelation functions are shown in the frequency domain and are qualitatively compared to the experimental dielectric loss spectra for the segmental α-relaxation in polymer nanocomposites. The εT″(f) (analogous of dielectric loss, ε″(f), for torsional motion) curves of the model confined melts are broader (toward lower frequencies) and have lower amplitudes relative to the corresponding bulk curves; however, the peak frequencies of the εT″(f) curves are only slightly affected.

Interfacial Dynamics in Supported Ultrathin Polymer Films-From the Solid to the Free Interface

Molecular dynamics in ultrathin layers is investigated using nanostructured electrodes to perform broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements, and by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Using poly(vinyl acetate) as the model system and taking advantage of access to the distribution of relaxation times in an extended temperature range above the glass transition temperature, T_g, we demonstrate that while the mean rates of the segmental relaxation remain bulklike down to 12 nm film thickness, modified molecular mobilities arise in the interfacial zones. Combining results from simulations and experiments, we show unambiguously that both the slow relaxations arising from adsorbed polymer segments and the faster modes attributed to segments in the vicinity of the free interface have non-Arrhenius temperature activation. These interfacial regions span thicknesses of ∼1.5 nm each just above the calorimetric T_g independent of molecular weight and film thickness. These deviations at interfaces are relevant for applications of polymers in adhesion, coatings, and polymer nanocomposites.

Position-Dependent Diffusion Dynamics of Entangled Polymer Melts Nanoconfined by Parallel Immiscible Polymer Films

The morphological structure and dynamics of confined polymers adjacent to the polymer-polymer interface have a profound effect on determining the overall physical properties of polymer blends. We measured the diffusion dynamics of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) melts confined between polystyrene (PS) layers using neutron reflectivity. Combinations of various thicknesses of PMMA and deuterated PMMA (dPMMA) allowed us to experimentally reveal the nonmonotonic behavior of polymer mobility near the PS-PMMA interface. From the neutron reflectivity results, we found that the polymers adjacent to the immiscible polymer-polymer interface showed enhanced diffusion dynamics because of the repulsive interaction between PS and PMMA, whereas the polymer at local regions farther from the interface exhibited reduced dynamics. This is probably due to the nonspherical conformation of PMMA and spatial confinement near the PS-PMMA interface.

Exploring a unified description of the super-Arrhenius region above and below the glass transition temperature

A new approach is presented in order to check whether the hypothesis of an Arrhenius component surviving in the α-relaxation region is consistent with experimental data. The temperature dependence of the dynamics in the whole glassy regime is described by an equation which assumes an Arrhenius component in the cooperative diffusion. Based on thermodynamic arguments, the dynamic heterogeneities close to the glass transition region are related to structural heterogeneities in a manner consistent with the idea of a sigmoidal shape in the cohesion energy. By doing so, a characteristic temperature which can be identified as the glass transition temperature (T_g) emerges, while an additional parameter for the extension of the super-Arrhenius region is introduced. In the analysis of experimental data, the activation energy parameter, determined from the temperature dependence of the β-relaxation, is fixed, and the relation between the experimental and the predicted glass transition temperature is examined. The results of this comparison support the idea that dynamics above and below T_g can be described in a unified manner. The proposed model is tested against experimental data of glass-forming liquids, polymers and polymer composites. In the latter systems, it is shown that the Arrhenius-like behavior characterizing the dynamics of the polymeric bound-layer can be accounted for by such an extension of the super-Arrhenius region.

Relaxation processes and glass transition of confined polymer melts: A molecular dynamics simulation of 1,4-polybutadiene between graphite walls

Molecular dynamics simulations of a chemically realistic model for 1,4-polybutadiene in a thin film geometry confined by two graphite walls are presented. Previous work on melts in the bulk has shown that the model faithfully reproduces static and dynamic properties of the real material over a wide temperature range. The present work studies how these properties change due to nano-confinement. The focus is on orientational correlations observable in nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and on the local intermediate incoherent neutron scattering function, F_s(q_z, z, t), for distances z from the graphite walls in the range of a few nanometers. Temperatures from about 2T_g down to about 1.15T_g, where T_g is the glass transition temperature in the bulk, are studied. It is shown that weakly attractive forces between the wall atoms and the monomers suffice to effectively bind a polymer coil that is near the wall. For a wide regime of temperatures, the Arrhenius-like adsorption/desorption kinetics of the monomers is the slowest process, while very close to T_g the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann-like α-relaxation takes over. The α-process is modified only for z≤1.2 nm due to the density changes near the walls, less than expected from studies of coarse-grained (bead-spring-type) models. The weakness of the surface effects on the glass transition in this case is attributed to the interplay of density changes near the wall with the torsional potential. A brief discussion of pertinent experiments is given.

Chain relaxation in thin polymer films: turning a dielectric type-B polymer into a type-A' one

A molecular dynamics simulation study of chain relaxation in a thin polymer film is presented, studying the dielectric response of a random copolymer of cis and trans 1,4-polybutadiene, a type B polymer without net chain dipole moment, confined between graphite walls. We stress the orientational effect of the attractive walls, inducing polarization in the vicinity of the walls, while the center of the film stays bulk-like. This polarization leads to a net dipole moment of the adsorbed chains, which is perpendicular to their end-to-end vector, which we termed as type A' behavior. In this situation, the dipole moment relaxes only upon desorption of the chains from the wall, a dynamic process which occurs on timescales much longer than the bulk relaxation time of the polymer.

Dielectric α-relaxation of 1,4-polybutadiene confined between graphite walls : Molecular dynamics investigations through numerical simulations of polymer molecules relaxation

We present results of Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of a chemically realistic model of 1,4-polybutadiene confined by crystalline graphite walls. The simulations cover a large range of temperatures from T ≈ 2T g to T ≈ 1.15T g, where relevant time scales are accessible using such computational methods. We investigate the dielectric relaxation close to the walls in comparison to the one in the center of the film, and study the latter as a function of the film thickness from the walls. The segmental dynamics in the film is slowed down close to the walls, in comparison to the bulk. In addition to the α-process, the relaxation exhibits an additional long time decay, the so-called wall desorption process. We focus here on the α-process and find no significant shift of the dielectric T g as a function of layer thickness, in agreement with recent dielectric experiments. These findings can be correlated with the importance of the dihedral dynamics for all relaxation processes in polymers, which is unaltered except for the first nanometer next to the walls.

Molecular dynamics approach to locally resolve elastic constants in nanocomposites and thin films: mechanical description of solid-soft matter interphases via Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and shear modulus

A molecular dynamics approach based on a small-deformation mechanical response has been extended from the evaluation of locally resolved Poisson's ratios, νj, in nanocomposites to the calculation of local Young's moduli, Ej, (with j labelling a subvolume of the studied sample). On the basis of the νj and Ej, the local values of the shear modulus, Gj, can be derived as well. The capability of the developed method to derive locally resolved elastic constants of complex (nanocomposite) systems has been tested for an atomistic model of silica and atactic polystyrene. When measuring the interphase dimension of the composite in terms of local Ej, νj and Gj elements, a surface influence exceeding three times the polymer bulk radius of gyration (Rg ≈ 1 nm in the studied 20 mer composite) is predicted while for the majority of static quantities (e.g., polymer mass density, polymer orientation relative to the nanoparticle surface, radius of gyration, end-to-end distance) interphase dimensions only slightly larger than the polymer Rg are found. Calculated local values of mechanical descriptors can be adopted as input parameters in the micromechanical modelling of multicomponent nanocomposites.

Dynamics of various polymer-graphene interfacial systems through atomistic molecular dynamics simulations

The current work refers to a simulation study on hybrid polymer-graphene interfacial systems. We explore the effect of graphene on the mobility of polymers, by studying three well known and widely used polymers, polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA). Qualitative and quantitative differences in the dynamical properties of the polymer chains in particular at the polymer-graphene interface are detected. Results concerning both the segmental and the terminal dynamics render PE much faster than the other two polymers; PS follows, while PMMA is the slowest one. Clear spatial dynamic heterogeneity has been observed for all model systems, with different dynamical behavior of the adsorbed polymer segments. The segmental relaxation time of the polymer (τseg) as a function of the distance from graphene shows an abrupt decrease beyond the first adsorption layer for PE, as a result of its well-ordered layered structure close to graphene, though a more gradual decay is observed for PS and PMMA. The distribution of the relaxation times of adsorbed segments was also found to be broader than those of the bulk ones for all three polymer-graphene systems.

Density profile in thin films of polybutadiene on silicon oxide substrates: a TOF-NR study

We have investigated thin films from fully deuterated polybutadiene (PB-d6) on silicon substrates with the aim of detecting and characterizing a possible interphase in the polymer film near the substrate using time-of-flight neutron reflectometry (TOF-NR). As substrates, thermally oxidized silicon wafers were either used as such or they were coated with triethylethoxysilyl modified 1,2-PB prior to deposition of the PB-d6 film. TOF-NR reveals that, for both substrates, the scattering length density (SLD) of the PB films decreases near the solid interface. The reduction of SLD is converted to an excess fraction of free volume. To further verify the existence of the interphase in PB-d6, we attempt to model the TOF-NR curves with density profiles which do not feature an interphase. These density profiles do not describe the TOF-NR curves adequately. We conclude that, near the solid interface, an interphase having an SLD lower than the bulk of the film is present.

Structure and dynamics of a polymer melt at an attractive surface

We study the structural and dynamic properties of a polymer melt in the vicinity of an adhesive solid substrate by means of Molecular Dynamics simulation at various degrees of surface adhesion. The properties of the individual polymer chains are examined as a function of the distance to the interface and found to agree favorably with theoretical predictions. Thus, the adsorbed amount at the adhesive surface is found to scale with the macromolecule length as Γ is proportional to √N, regardless of the adsorption strength. For chains within the range of adsorption we analyze in detail the probability size distributions of the various building blocks: loops, tails and trains, and find that loops and tails sizes follow power laws while train lengths decay exponentially thus confirming some recent theoretical results. The chain dynamics as well as the monomer mobility are also investigated and found to depend significantly on the proximity of a given layer to the solid adhesive surface with onset of vitrification for sufficiently strong adsorption.

Molecular dynamics method to locally resolve Poisson's ratio: Mechanical description of the solid-soft-matter interphase

A method based on "small-deformation mechanical response" has been developed to locally resolve the Poisson's ratio via molecular dynamics simulations. The approach can be used for simple and composite materials to characterize systems with two or more continuous phases in the framework of periodic boundary conditions. The proposed technique represents a simple method to obtain a local mechanical description of complex systems. A polystyrene bulk, a silica bulk, and a polystyrene-silica heterogeneous composite material have been characterized under imposed strain. The results show the effects of local material inhomogeneities which are present in the glassy material and in the composite system. The Poisson's ratio spatial profiles for silica, the polystyrene bulk, and in the interphase region between the soft polymer bulk and the hard surface have also been calculated. The obtained local mechanical description can be employed in micromechanical models developed to predict the overall mechanical properties of multicomponent materials.